X-Men: Tokyo 2079
by ThatLong-HairedCreepyGuy
Summary: (Reposted) Marvel 2313 - In the future, Japan has embraced mutant registration. Unregistered mutants in Old Shibuya find sanctuary at the Xavier Academy. Some, however, suspect more is going on behind the walls of the building and band together to fight back against the conspiracies of the Hellfire Club. X, Tarot, Yurei, Sunfire, and Toad are the new X-Men. These are their stories.
1. X-Men: Tokyo 2079 -- Episode 1

X-Men:

Tokyo 2079

Episode 1

Open Enrollment

by That Long-Haired Creepy Guy

Thursday, April 13

The air in the room stank.

Both of his eyes were shut at the moment. Blood was crushing over one lid, keeping him from opening it. Sniffing the air again, he cracked the other slowly and took a quick look around.

Surprisingly, this worked, though the room he was being held in was pitch black. As though in answer, his vision flickered for an instant and the room was bathed in a soft red glow, highlighting everything around him. As his vision cleared, he realized he was seeing everything in infrared. Instinctively, he knew it was from the left eye that he saw his prison. The socket felt slightly warmer, and he thought he detected a slight 'whir' sound each time he glanced in a different direction.

Now fully awake, he realized the other eye wasn't damaged. The blood covering it had simply caked dry, sealing it shut. It also itched something fierce, but somebody had cuffed both hands behind his back in the chair he was strapped to.

Noise came from farther down the hall, a good ways from the room he was in. Listening, he heard two voices speak to one another as if anxious about something. He could smell the sweat on their bodies the closer they came to the door, and the scent indicated both were very nervous. Thinking it over, he held his body perfectly still as the knob turned.

The two figures stood in the door frame for a moment, observing him while the door banged against the wall. Light flooded the room automatically, and he had to force himself not to react to it. The chamber being illuminated had played havoc with his infrared vision, which he'd stupidly left running.

"There's no point to playing dumb," a woman's voice said smoothly as she and her companion glided across the tile floor toward him. "A med-patch was placed on you the moment you arrived here. It's been monitoring your health signs the whole time. We know you're awake."

X opened his eye and stared across at her. "You MRD bastards have got an interesting way of inviting people over for tea and cookies," he jeered, while straining against his bonds.

"Don't get to close, Inspector," the man warned his superior, who wasn't listening. "What little we know about this one indicates he is dangerous."

"You have no idea," X retorted, still fighting to free himself. "Do you people make a point of kidnapping people off the streets when they're just trying to mind their own business?"

The gentleman's eyes flared for a second, showing the rage held in check, while the lady observed him silently.

"He is a bold one," she said in a satisfied tone after a moment. "I don't think we have anyting to worry about, however. Those straps once held down an M-4."

"Still," the man tried, his concern for the inspector evident. "We don't even know the full extent of his abilities, or what his real name is."

X leveled his gaze at the female and waited.

"You have been charged with unlawful disturbance of the peace," the female inspector explained. "At approximately one fifty-two this morning, you were caught brawling in a Shinjuku bar, a place that should not have even served you since you appear to be underage. Further evidence indicates that you are an unregistered mutant. According to the by-laws set by the Registration Act, you will be processed and sent to a detention camp while you await trial."

"Not interested," he spat, cutting her off. "I've got better things to do with my time than rot in some glorified prison while the media paints me into a monster."

The inspector bristled slightly at his comments. "Registration is not the civil rights debate people today try and make it out to be," she stated, as though it were simple fact. "Mutants are a danger to the common people of Japan."

"Then try spending a week in one of your camps and see how you like it," X snarled, baring his slightly pointed teeth. "I'm not going."

The MRD agent standing behind the inspector laughed softly. His chuckling fell silent the moment the inspector turned to him, though she didn't appear angry at his outburst.

"I concur," she said after a moment. "Just exactly how do you expect to resist. The MRD unit dispatched to bring you in were able to do so with relatively little hardship. You are now located inside one of the most fortified buildings in all of Tokyo. Escape for you is impossible."

"I've heard that before," X said. "And those MRD goons you sent after me brought me here because this was where I wanted to go."

Both MRD agents looked down at him, alarmed.

"Just kidding," X said, sneering. "I had one too many drinks in me, but that fight your men gave me worked off most of the alcohol. I'm ready to go for a second round."

X jerked both arms sharply. There was a flicker of light back behind him, and the cuffs fell off his wrists, clattering to the floor. Purple claws jutted out of his hands between the knuckles, formed out of psychic energy. The mechanical eye in his left socked was glowing again as X shredded the remaining straps holding him to the chair.

In seconds, he was free.

X shot forward before the inspector could go for the taser pistol holstered on her hop. Both sets of claws went straight through her chest. The tips stuck out through her back around the spine as her body jerked uncontrollably. X gave her a cruel smile as the inspector lost consciousness.

"Kuso!" her subordinate swore, drawing his own blaster. "Don't move."

"Calm down," X replied dismissively. "I only put her to sleep so she wouldn't give me any more trouble. I can do the same for you if you don't quit pointing that little pop gun at me."

The MRD agent fired, hitting X squarely in the chest. X's body jerked slightly from the direct hit, and smoke curled up out of the wound. The hair coating his teenage body burned, but otherwise, he didn't appear grievously harmed.

More than anything, X looked agitated.

"That was a really dumb thing to do," he growled, summoning his psychic claws again. "Now you and I are going to tangle with each other."

"Squadron Leader," the MRD agent said on his comm link as X approached. "This is Agent Mori in containment room seven. We..."

X swiped the gun with his claws. The blades somehow missed the flesh, but reduced the blaster to metal ribbons. The pieces fell to the floor at Agent Mori's feet, leaving him stunned. The MRD agent could only stare in shock at his unarmed hand while X reared back with one set of claws, aiming for the middle of the agent's chest.

"Turnabout," he growled, "is fair play, so they say."

A moment later, Agent Mori was lying unconscious on the floor just a few steps from his superior, the inspector. X snatched the inspector up off the floor and dragged her body over to the door, using her palm print to open it. Leaving her body propped up against the wall below where the palm reader was, X checked the corridor outside to make sure the coast was clear before ducking out into it.

He'd gotten maybe two hallway turns from the room when an alarm sounded.

"No way that isn't because of something I did," he grumbled to himself.

The MRD units were mobilizing. X took refuge inside a spare room once he'd gotten one floor up. Luckily, this turned out to be a shower area with spare uniforms. It was cliché, but X wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Snagging one of the uniforms for himself, he stuffed his body into it, secured the helmet so that his face wasn't as visible, then took off down the hall after several other MRD troopers.

The suit was a little big on him, but no one else bothered noticing. Once he spotted a door leading to one of the stairwells, X backed away from the MRD agents he'd been shadowing and slipped into it.

X's footfalls echoed softly in the empty, narrow shaft, but no one appeared to hear them, or see them as a major concern. Keeping close to the railing, X maneuvered himself down until he was at the ground floor. From there, he spotted an MRD lieutenant keeping guard in front of a set of doors that had another palm reader. Easing himself out into the open area, X moved like a shadow around him, keeping himself out of the lieutenant's peripheral vision. When there were only two steps left between them, X lunged forward and planted his claws in the lieutenant's back.

The older man's body jerked as his eyes rolled back into their sockets. X caught him as he fell to the floor, dragged him over to the palm reader, and was out of the building in well under a minute.

The night air hit him as he ran quietly through the streets in the MRD uniform. X debated stashing the uniform somewhere, but without the helmet, it would be far easier for someone to recognize him. Deciding to keep the gear for a little while longer, X headed down through the streets toward the nearest JR station.

The sooner he was out of Shinjuku, the better.

X was about a mile from the MRD building when he smelled something. Just inside the range of his vision, he spotted several shadows moving at a very quick pace. He was being followed, and not by MRD agents. X dove down a nearby side street and tucked himself under the first canopy he came to. There were fewer lights on this street, and plenty of shadows to hide in.

X's left eye activated, zooming in on the shadowy figures as they followed the path down the side street the same way he'd come. In the dark, he could see their faces. All of them were wearing uniforms, different from the ones the MRD agents had. X's cybernetic eye zeroed in on one of them, and a circle encasing an x-shape appeared. The insignia flashed briefly before sliding to the left, forming a miniature screen containing a captured image of the uniformed man's face.

Nothing registered.

"Looks like I'm a popular guy tonight," X mused quietly to himself as the suits moved on down the street, not seeing him huddled in the shop's door frame.

Once they were gone, X started to make his way back up the street toward the JR station again. He'd barely gotten three feet when something seized him. It felt like his head was caught in a vice all of a sudden. X gasped, unable to cry out, and felt himself sink to the ground on his knees. The pain intensified, and he thought he heard footsteps coming up from behind.

X tried to move, but his body wouldn't cooperate. Cursing at himself, willed his limbs to move while the footsteps came closer. Everything was going dark.

X thought he saw a woman's face swimming in front of him, like a reflection over water at sunset. The figure looked grimly at him for a moment, then opened her mouth to speak. Whatever words she spoke sounded muffled, as though they were muffled by a thick wall. Something was holding X down, and the woman was screaming for him to get up. X could just barely make out the words her mouth was forming.

She was telling him to get up and fight, which he was all in favor of. Unfortunately, his body wasn't being very helpful. X summoned whatever strength he had left, only to realize with a shock that he was totally exhausted. It didn't feel like he'd been fighting for long. He couldn't remember fighting at all actually.

The last thing X heard as unconsciousness swarmed over him was another woman's laughter.

{} {} {} {} {}

Shinobu Shaw watched as Fuyutsuki-sensei removed the specialized head set and placed it down on the console in front of her. The swivel chair turned automatically away from the desk containing the holographic monitor and light-up keyboard.

"It's done," Erika declared, staring coolly up at Shaw. "The Pawnsmen are bringing him in now. Cerebro should have whatever data the MRD collected concerning him erased within the hour."

"Sou desu ga?" Shaw replied in an oiled voice that spoke of refinement. "Thank you for your services, White Queen."

Fuyutsuki-sensei rose from the chair and brushed aside a lock of hair that had fallen across her face by accident.

"I couldn't get much out of him during the probe," she admitted, looking annoyed with herself over the fact. "His mind contains some fairly complicated blocks. There was evidence of tampering, like you thought. I suspect he may have laden psychic abilities of his own that go beyond the claws."

"Time will tell," Shinobu Shaw said, seemingly unconcerned. "I've very pleased with this new subject. The rest of the council will be, as well."

Shaw walked over to a nearby bar and poured two glasses of Chardonnay for himself and the White Queen. His smile grew broader as he handed the second glass out toward her.

"To a job well done," he said, saluting.

"I worry that the council will have reservations," Fuyutsuki-sensei said, accepting the glass from him.

She didn't react when Shaw's fingers brushed hers. "What makes you think so?" he wondered, undeterred by her frosty expression.

Fuyutsuki-sensei thought about how to phrase her reservations. "He is a wild one," she stated finally. "A maverick. His mind fought me like a rabid animal would. The reason I was able to put him down as fast as I did came from the drugs the MRD had pumped him full of. They had left his mind hazy and fogged."

"Good timing for us," said Shaw, before taking a sip from his glass.

"There was also another bug in the system," she added thoughtfully, earning herself a cocked eyebrow from the headmaster. "I couldn't pinpoint it. His mind required my full attention, but I'll have someone check the system for glitches again later."

"You were able to subdue X's mind using Cerebro despite a program glitch?" Shaw looked at her for a moment before tilting his wine glass in her direction. "An even more impressive feat, I'd say."

Fuyutsuki-sensei didn't return the gesture. "I'm concerned about the system having so many bugs," she said, glancing back at the set-up she'd been using. "It's a shame we can't contact the person who created it."

Erika turned back to find Shaw eying her shrewdly, and casually added, "I'd heard the designer was dead."

"They are," he said, calmly enough. "An unfortunate accident, I'm afraid."

Silent fell between the two for a moment. "Cerebro," Fuyutsuki-sensei said, recalling from memory. "Both the Spanish and Portuguese word for 'brain'."

"Sou."

Shaw debated privately for a moment. "The designer was something of an expert in the field of mutant genetics. She was also a computer developer."

Fuyutsuki-sensei looked surprised at this. "She?"

"She," Shaw affirmed. "The lady was a high-ranking member of our organization, and well-respected despite some of the less... enlightened member's opinions. After the accident, it was decided that her masterwork, Cerebro, would be commissioned for use in the school."

Fuyutsuki-sensei stared along with Shaw at the console. "I would love to have met her," she said, unable to hide all of the sadness in her voice. "You make it sound like she was a remarkable woman."

"So I am told," he replied evasively once again.

"Regarding the Pawnsmen," Shaw continued after a brief pause. "I was told there was another escape attempt yesterday afternoon."

"A minor problem," Fuyutsuki said dismissively, not taking her eyes off the device. "Few of the students are that foolish. They know what awaits them out on the streets. If the MRD doesn't find them first, one of the gangs will."

"Still," Shaw persisted. "It's discouraging."

Fuyutsuki-sensei let the silence stretch out for a moment longer before responding. "Very well," she said, facing Shaw again. "What do you think should be done?"

"Make our presence felt," he said decisively. "Up security and patrols, but only ever so slightly. We don't need to crush the students into obeying us. They only need reminding that we are here, and that the school is a much better alternative."

"It will be done."

Fuyutsuki-sensei finished her wine and passed the glass back to Shaw. "I should go down and see to our new student," she said, smiling now. "The Pawnsmen should be arriving shortly."

"Hai," said Shaw, still holding his half-empty glass. "Good luck with him. I would wager this one will prove to be quite a challenge."

Fuyutsuki-sensei paused as she was halfway out the door. "This is the Xavier Academy," she reminded him. "If it weren't challenging, what would be the point."

Shaw's eyes went slightly cold as Fuyutsuki-sensei closed the sliding door behind her. "Sou desu," he whispered to himself softy. "The Xavier Academy."

{} {} {} {} {}

The sun was shining in his face.

X could tell the moment he cracked his right eye. The light was coming from a window off to the right of where he was stretched out. It felt as though he were laying on a bed. The mattress was comfortable, something he'd gotten used to not having over the years.

Something hung in the air, a strange odor that reminded him of moist things. Sniffing, X turned his head slightly to the left and opened his other eye. The X symbol that appeared automatically registered a young man who looked to be in his early teens. Both eyes were black, and his hands and feet were perched on the bed's far corner. X saw that the hands and feet were webbed. The tips of his fingers and toes were rounded, like small suction cups.

The boy's skin was very pale and tinted a slightly green color, like someone who'd gotten very ill in a short period of time. He appeared and smelled healthy, though. With the way he sat posed on the bed so patiently, X found himself comparing the kid to a frog.

"You're awake," the kid said happily. "I was worried you might sleep through the morning, and they really hate that sort of thing here. My name's Toad, by the way."

Someone had done the boy named Toad's hair up into cornrows that hung down past his neck. Toad was dressed for the morning in what looked like a more militarized version of a typical school uniform. The whole thing was dark blue save for the gold undershirt.

X blinked, and looked around at the rectangle room they were in. "Where am I?" he asked gruffly. "How the hell did I get here?"

"Oh, sorry," said Toad, before cutting a backflip up high through the air, landing on his feet at the foot of the bed perfectly. "You're probably confused right now. It's okay. I was the first day I..."

X was off the bed and on top of Toad, pushing him to the ground underneath him, in seconds. Toad's eyes widened as X held one fist up to his face, psychic claws extended.

"Wow," he said, impressed. "Is that supposed to be your mutant power?"

"Who told you I was a mutant?" X demanded, bringing the claws closer to Toad's eyes. "Talk, before I start craving frog's legs."

Toad laughed. "Ha, good one," he said, though his eyes bulged slightly in fear. "Listen, you're probably a little freaked out right now, and I understand that. If we could just get up off the floor, I can..."

Toad was cut off in mid-sentence as X jumped back, grabbed him by the front folds of his jacket, and tossed him onto the bed.

"Whoa," Toad began, clearly intimidated as X pounced onto him again. "This is going a little further than I thought..."

"Where am I?" X demanded, growling low. "Tell me."

Toad swallowed at the sight of X's claws now. "The Xavier Academy," he spat out quickly. "That's what they call this place. I haven't been here very long myself, so there's a lot I don't know."

X grabbed Toad's collar bone and pressed down. The pain flashed across the boy's face at once, and he tried moving away to no avail.

"What else?" X asked, maintaining his hold. "Why was I brought here?"

"You don't know?" Toad gasped as X brought the claws back down into his face again. "This is a school for mutants. Mutants who aren't registered with the government. It gives them a place to hide from the MRD."

X hesitated, then released his hold on Toad and backed away so the boy could raise up. "I was captured by the MRD," he said, more to himself than Toad. "That's the last thing I remember clearly. I was hiding in a street when something happened."

"You got sick?" Toad offered. "And you felt like you were going to pass out?"

X looked back at him suspiciously. "I overheard one or two other students talking before," he explained fast. "They were saying how they lost consciousness and woke up here."

X studied Toad for a moment while the boy tried to get more comfortable. "How long?" he asked, and when Toad looked at him questioningly, he elaborated. "How long have you been here?"

"Oh," said Toad. "A couple of months. My parents were going to sign me over to the MRD, but someone from the Academy showed up and made me an offer. They said I would be safe here, and never have to worry about the MRD finding me. It seemed like a better choice than what I hear goes on with those guys."

X scowled at that.

"Is that your real name?" he asked, looking the kid up and down. "Toad?"

"They assign us code names here," Toad explained. "My real name was Midori Hikitaro before Cerebro assigned me the name Toad instead. Most people here go by whatever code name they were given."

"Cerebro?"

Toad opened his mouth, all too happy to answer, but was cut off as string of musical notes chimed from several directions at once.

"That's the bell for wake-up call," Toad said, looking around as though searching for the source of the sound.

X noticed a holographic monitor on a desk beside the bed come to life. "Good morning, Toad," a female voice called out. "It is time for you to wake up."

"Thank you, Cerebro," Toad replied cheerfully. "I was already awake, though."

The monitor went dark, and switched over to a screen saver that had what X assumed was the school logo, the same symbol that appeared in his cybernetic eye. A chill went up his arms as he made the connection.

"Cerebro is the school's computer system," Toad explained, oblivious to X's sudden alarm. "She runs everything around here. Delivers homework assignments. That sort of thing."

X listened to his heart pound for a moment as he tried to calm himself down. "This is a school," he began, watching Toad out the corner of his organic eye. "A school for mutants who aren't registered with the government?"

"Hai," said Toad, who then frowned. "Matte, I thought we covered that already."

"Who brought me here?" X asked insistently. "Why did they bring me here?"

The sound of a door sliding open caught X's attention, and he turned to find a very lovely woman in her late twenties watching them from just outside the frame.

"Because you were being chased by the MRD," she said in lieu of an introduction, "and we thought you needed our help."

"Fuyutsuki-sensei," Toad said, getting to his feet and bowing.

"It's quite alright, Toad," she said, smiling gently at him. "We're not in class. I only came to see how our guest was handling things."

X stiffened as the woman entered the room. She stood about a little over half a head taller than him, with long legs and soft curves. The sight of them made his mouth water a little. The teacher's eyes looked soft at first glance, but held a shrewdness to them that put X on his guard.

"When we found you," she said, looking at him now, "you'd passed out on the street. It didn't look as though you'd been injured, but the MRD were swarming that area, so it seemed prudent to bring you here."

When X said nothing, she continued. "Please forgive the lack of introduction. After we determined you were unharmed, it was decided that the best thing would be for you to sleep off whatever made you collapse."

"Any idea what that was?" X asked.

"Possibly something the MRD gave you," she said. "Occasionally, mutant physiology will react to drugs differently than how a normal human does."

Toad was looking back and forth between them, clearly aware that he was not needed for the conversation, but unsure of what to do about it.

"If you're hungry," Fuyutsuki-sensei went on, "breakfast is being served in the cafeteria. We don't have any spare clothes for you, but Toad might be willing to load you one of his spare uniforms."

"Hai," the kid said enthusiastically, before blushing.

"Strictly speaking," she said, ignoring him. "It is against school policy for students to be on campus outside of regulation uniforms."

X looked down at the MRD uniform pants he'd stolen from the center. Someone had stripped him out of everything but those. Raising up from his bare chest, X met Fuyutsuki-sensei's eyes carefully.

"What's the catch?" he demanded bluntly.

Fuyutsuki-sensei smiled. "No catch," she answered genuinely, not surprised at all by the question or X's bluntness. "You are a guest here. The Xavier Academy was founded to help mutants. Since the registration bill was passed by Parliament, we've opened our doors to those who refused to allow themselves to be monitored by the government's task force."

"What if I want to leave?" X asked.

"Then someone will escort you to the front campus doors," she said, unflinching. "Though the invitation to breakfast still stands. You are free to eat something before you leave. I'm sure Toad would not mind showing you the way."

"Yosh," said Toad. "I'd be happy to."

"Domo," Fuyutsuki-sensei told him, acknowledging the boy's presence for the first time since she's entered. "If you wouldn't mind, fill our guest in on what the Academy is like. Cerebro will be instructed to inform your teachers that your absence is excused."

"Wow," Toad said, after Fuyutsuki-sensei had left and the door closed behind her. "I really owe you one."

X stared at Toad like he was deluded. Before he could actually say anything, however, his stomach let out a loud roar to remind X that he hadn't eaten for a while.

"I take it you're hungry," Toad said, hopping through the air all the way over to a long wardrobe tucked away along the wall near the door. "Let's see. There was a uniform in there that Cerebro had sent to me. It was two sizes too big, but you look as though you could fit it easily."

X wasn't listening to him. His eyes were fixed now on the door, the only visible means of escape. The windows were placed much higher than in a normal room, and it didn't look as though they opened. X considered trying to slice through them with his claws, but then Toad turned around with one of the uniforms he was wearing in his hands.

"Try it on," Toad said encouragingly. "I really think it will fit."

X hesitated, giving the windows one last glance before turning back to face the kid. "What are they going to do if I don't put that thing on?" he wondered. "Throw me out the back door?"

Toad looked at the uniform in his hand. "No," he said thoughtfully. "But the last student who tried walking around campus without one spent three hours in detention with Onizuka-sensei."

X rolled his eyes and took the uniform from Toad's hands. "Of course," Toad added, as X unabashedly dropped trow in front of him. "That might have been because he was walking through the halls... naked..."

Once X had dressed, and Toad stopped blushing, the two of them headed out down the outside corridor toward the smell of freshly-baked muffins. X could have found his own way without Toad's help considering how good everything smelled. Other students were milling about, either headed in the same direction, standing around talking, or working on what looked like unfinished homework with each other.

None of them seemed to notice X much, though a handful looked up in time to see him pass by and did a double-take. X thought at first that it was his soft white hair, which flowed down past his shoulders. As he and Toad moved further along toward the cafeteria, though, it became abundantly clear that this was not the case.

More than a few students possessed features that caused them to stand out. X spotted two girls talking at a corner, each of which had blue and green hair, respectively. The green-haired one's skin tone was an odd mix of orange and copper. The curls that formed naturally hung low toward it.

Another boy had spikes growing out of his face. Another possessed what looked like antlers that curled around his head, forming an odd headdress. Mutants of all shapes, sizes, and colors wandered through the halls freely as though their presence was perfectly natural.

Toad noticed, and was watching X's reactions with a smile on his face. "Cool, huh?" he said when a large male with rock-hard skin passed them walking next to a cat-faced girl.

"This place is insane," X said under his breath. "How come there are so many mutants under one roof? Doesn't anyone on the outside get suspicious?"

X looked out toward what he recognized as the middle of Old Shibuya. "Matte," he said, stopping in the middle of the hall. "We're in Old Shibuya?"

"I asked Cerebro after I got here," Toad replied, "and she said that the building was here before Hurricane Abare. It was converted into a school sometime afterward. That was before things here got the way they are."

X started moving again, forcing Toad to catch up. Before they'd gotten ten feet, X spotted two figures up ahead moving through the halls. The students were jumping out of the way, as if afraid to be seen anywhere near them.

The two were both male. X recognized that much automatically. He also remembered the uniforms they were wearing. These two were in blue, but the design was the same as the group that had followed him down the side road after he'd fled the MRD building.

Toad saw what X was staring at so intently, and pulled X back by the shoulder before the two men in blue marched past them.

"They're called Pawnsmen," Toad said quietly as X shrugged his hand away. "They're a part of the school."

"What do they do?" X wondered, keeping both eyes on the blue men.

"Depends," said Toad, shrugging. "The blue ones are school aids. They do whatever jobs the school requires them to do. There are black ones too, though."

Toad continued talking as X continued toward the cafeteria, albeit at a slower pace than before. "Black Pawnsmen are monitors. They patrol the halls for students who are outside of class, or who get lose, or need to be taken to the infirmary. Red Pawnsmen come next. They're kind of like security guards or something."

Toad almost slid as X turned a sharp corner without him. "Mostly," he went on. "You see Red Pawnsmen patrolling the outskirts of the school. Say, how come you know which way the cafeteria is?"

"I can smell the food," X answered casually, like it was obvious.

"Sou," said Toad. "Is that your mutant power?"

X ignored the question. "The ones I saw were white," X said to himself as they passed two Blue Pawnsmen next. "It was the same uniform, though."

Toad's eyes widened in alarm. "You've seen White Pawnsmen?" he demanded a little too loudly, earning him several looks from the students nearest to them.

X shot him a glare as they rounded the corner and came to the cafeteria area. "What are White Pawnsmen?" he asked Toad as they waited in line.

"Eh," Toad said, moving forward along with the line. "No one really knows. I've asked, and a few people say they've seen them, but everyone is clueless as for what they're for."

"Great," X growled. "That tells me a whole hell of a lot."

Toad ducked his head slightly in apology. "From what I've seen," he said. "The Pawnsmen have a ranking system. Blue is at the bottom, and white is up top. Black follows blue, and red follows black."

Toad was in the middle of taking a deep breath to say more when the line abruptly thinned out in front of them. X stepped through the archway to find himself in front of a counter manned by an elderly woman. The computer unit in front of her resembled the same Cerebro system X had seen in Toad's dormitory room.

"Hand print," the woman said crisply.

X stared down at the palm reader resting at the counter's edge. "He's probably not in the system yet," Toad explained. "See, he only got here last night."

X resisted a second longer, then placed his hand against the sensitive scanner, which tickled as it read his palm.

"Cleared," the elderly said in a bored tone. "Order?"

X didn't answer. "Try the number six," Toad suggested. "It's pretty good, and comes with extra bacon."

X looked blankly at the counter lady, who keyed in his order on the glowing pad. The console gave off a soft ding, then printed out a small slip of paper.

"Container sixty-seven," she said, handing X the slip. "Enjoy your meal."

"This way," Toad directed after placing his own order and receiving a slip. "We pick up our meals over there."

Toad was pointing toward a wall on the far end of the cafeteria area. X saw nothing but row after row of what looked like flat microwaves resting on top of one another. Toad began checking the numbers flashing on each device.

"This one," he said, indicating the one just above his shoulders. "It's got your number. Mine's going to be further down."

X studied the machine while Toad wandered off. Another student came up to the collage of machines near X, and stuck her slip of paper into a slot just below the flashing digits with practiced ease. X emulated her, sliding the paper into the one with his number, and watched as the numbers ceased flashing.

Taking the handle carefully, X pulled down and opened the device. Inside was a tray containing bacon, scrambled eggs, rice, and a prawn tempura. Taking the tray, X lifted it out and sniffed tentatively.

"Come on," Toad said, who was back with his own tray of the same. "Let's grab a seat somewhere. I can fill you in on more about the school."

Toad started to head down toward the far end of a long table. X, however, planted himself at the first seat at the head. After hesitating for a moment, Toad followed suite, positioning himself to X's right.

"No one seems surprised to see me," X noticed, after spending several minutes sniffing his food. "Do mutants always show up in the middle of the night?"

"Sometimes," Toad admitted, watching X as he took a tentative bite of tempura.

X swallowed, and stared skeptically at Toad. "And nobody thinks that's weird? Do the clowns in charge of this place just snatch whatever unregistered mutant they come across on the streets?"

Toad thought the question over while X went back to attacking his meal, now evidently convinced it was safe for consumption.

"Some came from the streets, I hear," he said over X's chewing. "Though, I don't think anyone was unconscious like you. Others were sent here by their parents. Quite a few were thrown out after their parents found out they were mutants. I'm not really sure how they found out about this place, but..."

Toad paused in mid-sentence. X was watching him now as though waiting for something.

"I didn't say you couldn't eat," he said pointedly. "Go ahead."

Toad suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Iie," he quickly stammered out. "I'm good. Don't worry about me. I finish mine later."

X's gaze went straight through Toad, causing him to sweat. "It's..." Toad struggled for a moment, looking as though he wished he could turn invisible.

This was, apparently, not his mutant power.

"It's how I eat," he said at last, as though making a confession. "Most people think it's really gross. I usually sit off by myself."

X cocked an eyebrow at him. "You're in a school full of nothing but kids who are mutants," he stated flatly. "What could possibly do that would be called gross?"

Toad fidgeted at this, and narrowed his eyes down the table toward another group of students. One, X noticed, was watching closely as though something highly entertaining were about to happen.

"Show me," X insisted, noticing where Toad was looking. "Now I'm curious."

Toad waited a moment more, then resignedly picked up a strip of bacon between two fingertips. As he tossed it up, X spotted the group of teens down the table now watching closely and snickering amongst themselves. The bacon flew into the air, and before it could arc back down, something long and sticky-smelling whipped out of Toad's mouth.

Toad's tongue lassoed the bacon strip and snatched it back into his mouth before X had time to blink. Looking back down, X saw Toad chewing with a patient expression on his face, as though he knew what was about to happen.

"Here," X said, picking another piece of bacon off Toad's plate. "Do that again for me."

X tossed the bacon high, higher than Toad had, and observed as Toad snatched the strip on it's way back down.

"That's my power," Toad explained, after he'd swallowed. "My tongue works kind of like a whip, and can stick to things. I can also climb walls and jump really high. And I do this thing where..."

Toad suddenly went rigid. The students farther down had been watching, and were laughing hard, but X knew they had nothing to do with the look of dread on his friend's face. X felt a presence come up from behind him and sniffed the air. There was more than one; a total of three by his count, and one gave off a high amount of body heat.

"Toad," a young male voice called out mockingly. "Toad. Toad. Toad."

X turned and saw a young man with unnaturally bright red hair that stuck up like a bird's plumage approaching. Though handsome, his face was marked with dark brown birthmarks below the eyes and around the mouth. They looked like sunspots, almost.

Two more goons stood behind him, both of whom looked forgettable enough and without any distinguishing mutation characteristics. X recognized them at once as being hired muscle for the still-handsome man glowering at Toad now.

"Sunfire," Toad said softly.

The one called Sunfire glanced over at X. "Who is this new loser?" he asked derogatorily. "I thought the school ran out of roommates to stick you with."

Toad said nothing, but the effect was obvious. If the kid had wanted to disappear before, it now looked like he was ready to drop dead. X took an immediate dislike to Sunfire at once.

"Tell me something," X said, interjecting his voice between them. "Sunfire, right? Is that your hair, or did a tropical bird die and get stuck to your forehead."

"You should stay indoors with something like that," X went on, enjoying Sunfire's reaction immensely. "If you went outside after dark, airplanes would mistake you for being part of a landing strip."

Sunfire's face was contorted with seething rage. "I hope that isn't contagious," X finished off, keeping the smirk on his face contained. "I mean, I know I'm not really one to talk, but you make it seem like I drew the longer straw."

Smoke was curling out of Sunfire's fists. X made a note of it just before fire sprang out of the madman's fingers. The flames shot up at once, lunging for X's throat like they had a mind of their own. X ducked before he could be burned, then lunged backward onto the table, cutting a flip in the process that carried him up on top of the table. Sunfire swore, and used X's chair to gain enough altitude and join him.

Toad, meanwhile, backed out of the way of both Sunfire and his two goons. Sunfire raised his burning hands at X and waved them around in a fighting stance. X was not the least bit fazed by it.

_"Security to cafeteria area. Security to cafeteria area."_

The female voice that chimed above their heads repeated the phrase two more times.

"Cerebro," Toad said, alarmed. "She's sending the Pawnsmen here. Get down off the table before they catch you!"

Sunfire actually looked unnerved at the thought of being caught. X spotted an opening and took his chance, summoning his psychic claws. Sunfire's eyes bulged from their socks as X rushed forward, swiping his claws sideways at the fiery redhead. X's cybernetic eye locked on to Sunfire as he attacked again, striking diagonally this time.

"What's the matter?" X taunted, clearly having the time of his life. "Your mouth writing credit your fists can't cash?"

Sunfire snarled and shoved both hands forward. The flame in the palms of his hands jumped back and forth, increasing in intensity. X felt the heat from them, and saw it register in his left eye as a fireball formed.

X crouched, preparing to dodge, but something jumped in the way of his line of sight. An imposing figure of a man leaped between them, blocking Sunfire's view of X. Peeking around the hulking man, X saw Sunfire looking startled by the man's sudden presence, and in his shock, the fireball leaped out of his hand.

Then fizzled to nothing as it struck the man guarding X.

"Perhaps you should return to your own table, Sunfire," he said in a calm, authoritative tone, "I believe it was. The young man behind me is a guest, after all, and we wouldn't want to put anything other than our best foot forward, correct?"

Sunfire backed away, keeping his eyes on X the whole time. "Hai," he agreed, lowering his head before jumping down off the table. "Koucho."

Once Sunfire had moved on, the man turned around to stare at X. "My name is Shinobu Shaw," he said. "I am the headmaster of the Xavier Academy."

"That's good, I guess," X said, refusing to back down or be intimidated. "I guess someone here has to be."

The bold remark made Shaw smile. "When you're finished with breakfast, come and meet me in my office. I was hoping for a chance to talk with you."

"About what?" X wondered as he watched Shaw calmly get down off the table.

"A bit of this and that," he evasively replied, as if expecting X to say that. "Finish breakfast first, though, and please take your time. Toad-san was already given instructions to serve as your guide. He can show you the way."

One the headmaster had left, Toad claimed his seat next to X again. "Who was that clown with the bad hair?" X asked.

"The headmaster doesn't..." Toad began. "Ah, you meant Sunfire. His real name is Yoshida Shiro, and he's a member of the Yoshida conglomerate."

"Never heard of them," X muttered, polishing off his tempura.

"They're some big family with a ton of money," Toad elaborated. "If Sunfire is here, though, then the family probably kicked him out for being a mutant. That's the theory, but no one would ever be stupid enough to say so to his face."

"And the headmaster?" X asked, looking back to where Shaw had wandered off. The Pawnsmen were standing at the door, watching X closely as though waiting for him to do something.

"Shaw-koucho? What about him?"

"Is he indestructible or something?" X asked. "That fireball hit him dead on and he didn't so much as flinch."

Another set of chimes, identical to the ones X had heard in Toad's dormitory earlier rang. "Breakfast is over," Toad said miserably, having only eaten half his tray's contents. "Guess this means I do this the hard way again."

X watched unflinchingly as Toad flicked his tongue out in rapid succession, gobbling up what was left on his plate. Several students saw this as they walked past, and grimaced.

"Come on," said Toad as he stood, not bothered by their reactions. "I'll show you to where Shaw-koucho's office is."

Toad disposed of his tray in the designated place, a slot by the wall where what looked like the beginning of a conveyor belt stood. X had left his at the spot on the table where he was sitting. Toad noticed, but said nothing and followed after him to the headmaster's office.

"This is it," the younger mutant said a few minutes later.

The headmaster's office was located on the top floor, and faced the rear end of the school. X and Toad had passed several Pawnsmen during the trip, none of which were white. Each time one walked past them, X sniffed the air to see if any of their scents matched the men he only vaguely remembered holding him down.

"Do you... need me to wait here?" Toad asked nervously. "I don't have to be anywhere for the whole day so long as I'm showing you around."

"Do whatever you like," replied X, before opening the sliding door.

An eldery woman wearing dark glasses was standing behind a counter. When X entered, she immediately pressed a button on the pad that had been built into the counter's surface.

"You are..." she began, hesitating near the end, as though caught off-guard. "You aren't a student here, are you?"

Two girls sat in chairs next to the door. Both looked a year or two older than Toad, and were watching X closely. One wore a thick pair of gloves, while the other sat perfectly still.

"You don't have a name," the woman behind the counter stated.

The two girls reacted in surprise by this, though not nearly on the same scale that X did. "How did you know that?" he demanded.

"I can see everything," she declared. "Except what is around you. You are a blind spot to me. The only thing I sense is that you once had a name, but now it's been lost. You are an unknown variable."

X waited for the moment to continue, his hands clenching into fists as the silence stretched. "You are," she said softly, almost fearfully. "You are X."

X went even stiffer than the girl sitting nearby with her friend. "Someone else called me that before," he said. "So how the hell can you know that?"

The woman didn't answer. "Who are you hear to see?" she asked instead. "Matte, I can see a clearer picture now. Have a sit with the other students. The headmaster will be done in a moment."

There was only one other seat next to the two girls, and no other places to sit down. X considered standing, then decided to hell with it all, and lowered himself into a slouch in the other space available.

Both girls were watching him the whole time. "'X'?" the less reserved-looking girl of the two asked. "Is that your name?"

X didn't answer. "Receptionist said he wasn't a student," the other one reminded. "And must you be so nosy?"

"I'm just being friendly," the first one insisted, turning back to face X. "They call me Tarot."

X ignored Tarot, which earned him a small smile from the unnamed girl. "Yurei," she said, when he glanced slightly her way. "I haven't seen you here before."

"I'm not a student," X said, though he had no reason to. "I was kidnapped off the street and left in some kid named Toad's dorm room."

Both girls exchanged looks. "That's happened before," Tarot said quietly, taking note of the blind receptionist not far from them. "I know one or two kids who had that happen to them."

X almost bit back with a sarcastic retort, but stopped himself as a thought occurred to him. "And they're still here?" he wondered curiously. "Why?"

Yurei looked like she knew exactly what he meant. "Because," she said, leaning into Tarot slightly so X could hear her better. "When they were taken from was always far worse than here."

Tarot nodded emphatically. "I was the same way," she said, touching her gloved hand briefly to her chest for emphasis.

"Not me, though," said Yurei. "My parents sent me here because they thought the school could help. Someone on the school board was friends with my mother, and she got me in so I wouldn't have to register."

X looked from one to the other, taking note of Tarot's gloves once more. "You're both mutants," he stated. "Someone told me this was a school for mutants."

"It is," Yurei affirmed, nodding.

"Pretty cool, huh?" asked Tarot, smiling. "I can charge solid objects with psychokinetic energy, or read them and find out things about people."

"I phase through objects," Yurei added, unbidden. "My power can also let me hover in the air. People say I'm like a ghost."

"Hence the name," Tarot finished. "I can also do tarot fortune readings."

Tarot reached into her vest pocket and withdrew a stack of cards. "Want me to read yours?" she asked, waving them near X's face.

"No thanks," he replied gruffly.

Tarot smirked as though knowing otherwise and drew one card off the top of the deck. "A man of danger," she said, holding up the Tower card. "You've seen many struggles in your lifetime, and trouble seems to dog your steps."

X's face twisted slightly at her invasion of his privacy. "The Sun," Tarot went on, blithely turning out his obvious discomfort. "You bring both positive and negative events, but the pros definitely outweigh the cons."

"I don't think you should go any further," Yurei warned.

Tarot ignored her. "The Star," she said, drawing the third card. "Fate and more positive events. You'll help others seek their own destinies while yours remains a mystery."

X stood up out of the chair, causing the back to clang noisily against the wall. Both Tarot and Yurei jumped slightly as he stormed toward the door and slung it open.

"X-san," the receptionist called out. "You haven't had your meeting with the headmaster yet."

The door slammed shut before she could finish.

"Nice going," said Yurei disapprovingly. "You know you aren't supposed to show off like that."

"I couldn't help it," Tarot insisted defensively, slipping her cards back into their pocket. "There was something about him."

"You might as well have taken your gloves off and read him that way," Yurei grumbled, not pleased at all by her friend's behavior.

Tarot shuddered at the thought. "No way," she declared. "I'd rather not have that guy swimming in my head for the rest of the day."

"Tarot-san," the receptionist announced, cutting off their conversation. "Yurei-san. It would seem we have an opening. You may speak with the headmaster about the summer festival if you still wish to."

Yurei stood first, followed by Tarot. "How did she know we wanted to speak with headmaster about that?" Tarot asked.

"She's a precog," Yurei reminded, glancing toward the door. "Just like you. I would think you'd have remembered that sort of thing by now."

{} {} {} {} {}

X spun around in a complete circle, sniffing the air the whole time. The students had already been through here, muffling the hallways with their scents. It was harder for him to remember which way he'd come.

Toad had been chasing after him since the headmaster's office, and stared in confusion as X tried to figure out which way to go.

"What are you looking for?" he asked, venturing a guess.

"The exit," X growled in reply. "Where's the exit? I thought we were back on the first floor."

"We are," said Toad, risking a few tentative steps forward. "Take the hall behind you, and it'll lead you straight to it."

X whirled around and looked down the wider hallway that had sat gaping behind him. "Hai," he said wearily. "Domo."

Toad followed suit, curious to see what was going on. "Where are you going?" he asked, after catching up.

"Out," replied X tersely at once. "This place is too weird for me."

Toad said nothing, not wanting to incur the older mutant's wrath by trying to convince him to stay. Whatever had occurred inside the headmaster's office had rattled the young man. Toad was sharp enough to see that right away. He was also sure it was the reason why X was so intent on leaving the Academy. Toad kept his feelings on the matter and followed X to the end of the hall. Up ahead was the entrance area. In an ordinary school, this would have been the place where students deposited their shoes into lockers until the end of the day.

There were no lockers here. Students wore specially-assigned shoes while inside the building, and had slippers given to them for use in their dorms. The entrance area was much smaller, and had Red Pawnsmen guarding the space.

The sight of the Pawnsmen made Toad uneasy. There were a total of six of them, which seemed unnecessary since even Toad knew students could leave whenever they felt like it. The sight of them certainly didn't appear to bother X one bit. X did not hesitate until he reached the doors. Only then did Toad see him pause and check either side where two Red Pawnsmen stood. X seemed to be watching them, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, he pushed the doors open, which slide sideways in a traditional Japanese fashion like every other one in the building.

When they were open, X started to take the first step out of the Xavier Academy building. Before his foot could touch the concrete outside, something happened. Toad was watching closely the whole time, intent on seeing someone actually leave the school building.

X didn't move. Toad looked again, and spotted what had caused his friend to go rigid seconds before it vanished around the turn out of sight.

It had been an MRD van.

X backed up and let the doors close again. "I saw," Toad said, unsure if his friend wanted him to speak, but unwilling to stay silent any longer. "That was an MRD patrol unit, wasn't it?"

X's mouth turned upward into a distinctive snarl as he spoke. "Hai. Do you know if they patrol by this place a lot?"

"Not exactly," Toad admitted sadly. "But I have seen those vans before. Sometimes, when I'm in class, I'll spot one out the window. I didn't know they were driving this close to the building, though. I wonder if the MRD knows what this place is."

"How could they not?" X wondered, realizing that the Red Pawnsmen were still standing at their posts, and listening in on every word.

Toad backed away alongside X, not needing to be told why they were leaving. Neither spoke to one another again until they were back inside Toad's dorm room.

"Something about this place bothers me," X said, once he'd searched the room for surveillance equipment. "This is a school for unregistered mutants. Why would the MRD allow a place like this?"

Toad had watched X dig through his dorm room the whole time, silent but wide-eyed. "What were you looking for?" he asked instead, being very bold for him.

"Eh?" X looked around. "Checking for bugs," he explained. "You can't be too careful when you're in a place you don't recognize."

"Sou," said Toad. "Actually, I wondered that about the MRD myself."

X waited for Toad to continue. "Doesn't anybody here know?" he pressed, when Toad offered no further information.

"I haven't heard anything," the younger mutant replied with a shrug.

"You never asked?"

"No one talks to me," Toad said, making it sound like it should have been obvious. "People think my mutation is gross. That's why it's safe for us to talk in here. We don't have to worry about anyone showing up and overhearing us."

X blinked.

"Sou desu," Toad said sagely, answering X's unspoken question. "This is a school for mutants, but I'm still the outcast. I suppose even minorities need scapegoats."

X chewed this over for a moment. "As far as you know," he began at last, getting back to their former subject. "No one here is sure whether the MRD knows about the Xavier Academy."

"As in, that it's a school for unregistered mutants?" Toad clarified. "I have no clue. If they do know, I can't believe they'd allow a place like this to stay open."

"But the MRD patrols around the school regularly," X said, as he began pacing. "That's suspicious."

"Not really," said Toad, scooting to the edge of the bed where he sat. "Old Shibuya has a lot of mutant gangs in it."

X grunted thoughtfully in reply. "So it could be the school being here that's important," he offered, still walking back and forth across the room's expanse. "If the MRD patrols this area, students would be too afraid to leave."

"That's pretty much it."

Toad was beginning to enjoy himself. He'd wondered about these things since first arriving at Xavier Academy. Having someone to talk with about them at last was exhilarating.

"This whole place is a prison," X concluded, glancing up at the small, high windows designed for letting in just enough light.

Toad frowned. "But students can leave," he stated. "Every student is told that they're free to leave if they want to."

"That's the best sort of prison," X retorted confidently. "Make your prisoners think that staying locked up behind thick walls is the better alternative. Mutants all over Japan know to be afraid of the MRD. If those bastards are seen patrolling in the area, students will talk about it. They know it's not safe, and even if the MRD weren't around, you said yourself that there were mutant gangs in Old Shibuya. For a scared kid who's used to being ostracized, this place would feel like the better option."

"You're a kid too," Toad quipped sardonically, before adding, "well, you're older than me, but we're still in the same age group. Even if you don't talk like it most of the time."

X frowned upon hearing this and cast an eye down at the insightful Toad.

"So what do we do?" Toad asked. "If this place is a prison, you're as much a prisoner as I am."

X snorted. "Not for very long," he replied. "I can get out of here anytime I want, but I'm more interested in what's really going on."

"Just like that?" Toad asked skeptically.

"I've been doing things like this for a while," said X evasively. "Escaping from a high school, even one with armed guards, isn't going to be a problem."

"Good."

X was surprised when Toad stood up and took his hand. "Then will you take me with you?" he asked. "Onegai shimasu?"


	2. X-Men: Tokyo 2079 -- Episode 2

X-Men:

Tokyo 2079

Episode 2

School of Hard Knocks

by That Long-Haired Creepy Guy

Saturday, April 15

"Chotto matte, X."

X continued flipping through the air, twisting his body as he went as though lighter than air. The laser sensors that stretched back and forth across the hall glowed brightly through his cybernetic eyeball. No part of him touched them.

Landing in the middle of the space where the corridors crisscrossed, X turned and waited for Toad to catch up. The younger mutant didn't take long at all, though. Falling from the ceiling, Toad landed in a crouch and stood up right next to where X was, who looked at him in surprise.

"I keep forgetting you can do that," X said. "Can anyone else in this school stick to the walls and ceilings?"

"Who knows?" Toad replied. "It's a pretty big place."

The whole school was dark, having been powered down hours ago. Curfew was at ten o'clock on weekdays, according to Toad, and midnight on the weekends. X had spent the time leading up to midnight pacing the room and making Toad nervous. The prospect of escaping hadn't seemed to bother X one bit. Toad, however, was still feeling butterflies on the inside.

Nevertheless, there was a certain thrill that came with what they were doing.

"Which way now?" X asked.

Toad started to point down the left hall, but froze in mid-motion as something up ahead moved in their direction.

"Kuso!" he swore. "Pawnsmen!"

Toad crouched down on all fours in fear, but X snarled. The Pawnsmen had already spotted them, and were moving in close.

"Halt," one ordered in a vaguely mechanical tone. "No students are allowed outside of their dorms after midnight. You are in violation of..."

X thrust forward, planting his claws into the Pawnsman's chest. The psychic claws dug deep, cutting the guard both on the astral and material planes. X's rage fueled them, giving them the power to slice through flesh and bone. When he tore them free, sparks flew everywhere. The Pawnsman fell to the floor, the gaping hole showing torn wiring and electronic equipment in place of a heart and lungs.

"They're robots," X said, looking up at the other one, who was already aiming a blaster rifle at X with the intent to shoot.

Before the Pawnsman could fire, something whipped out between them from high up on the ceiling. Toad's tongue wrapped around the rifle and snatched it away. The young mutant then flipped down off his perch above them, spitting something into the Pawnsman's face in passing. The glop landed with a noisy splat, blinding the guard.

X seized the advantage and tore through the robot, intent on shredding it. Blood splashed and sparks flew as the Pawnsman was left eviscerated.

"I think you killed it," Toad said, backing away in shock. "Hold on, you said that the Pawnsmen were robots. I see blood."

"Looks like I was wrong," X replied calmly. "They're not robots. These are Augments. Human cyborgs left over from the Amero-Japanese Conflict."

"So the Pawnsmen are cyborgs," Toad said, looking both over now with a little more interest than before. "I guess that's how they can pass through the laser sensors without triggering any alarms."

"You don't need cybernetics to do that," X countered, sweeping the area for signs of more of them. "If these two found us, more are probably on the way. We need to get out of here."

"Hai," Toad answered, pointing. "This way."

X glanced down once at the Pawnsman left laying on the floor with goo stuck to his face, then took off after Toad.

"I didn't know you could do that, either," he said, once they were running along side by side again. "That thing with the... whatever that was."

"Ah," Toad said. "Yeah, it's another one of my powers. I can barf up sticky stuff. That's another thing about me the other kids say is gross."

"Don't knock it," X advised. "It came in handy back there."

Toad blushed, and said a prayer of thanks that his new friend wouldn't notice, forgetting that X's cybernetic eye gave him night vision.

The two kept to the shadows, with Toad using the ceiling to bypass the laser sensors while X continued to pounce and roll around them. Some corridors didn't have them, however. The school seemed to be designed with certain 'safe' areas where security wasn't as severe. X took note of this and pressed forward with Toad at his side.

Onward and upward they continued.

"Keep sticking to the shadows," X instructed. "They are your friends."

"Cool," Toad whispered back. "That sounds like something from a shonen manga. Is that where you got it?"

X's face soured slightly at the question. "I don't remember," he said, stopping suddenly. "Quiet."

Both he and Toad remained perfectly still as a pair of Black Pawnsmen marched past. X and Toad remained crouched behind a set of chairs, hidden out of sight. None of the Pawnsmen seemed to notice their presence.

"Ikko," X whispered, squeezing Toad's shoulder as he rose.

After what felt like well over an hour later, they reached the top floor. Before long, X and Toad found themselves standing outside the hallway that led down to the headmaster's office.

"Are you sure we need to do this?" Toad asked, sounding very reluctant suddenly.

"It's a little late to back down now," X replied. "Unless you want to go through all those Pawnsmen and security alarms again for no reason."

Toad thought this over. "Iie," he said begrudgingly. "But I'm not wild about getting caught snooping around in headmaster's office. Chances are, if we get caught, they'll expel us right out into the streets."

"They would never expel us," X said calmly, keeping his eyes fixed on the hall around the corner from them. "This school is doing its best to keep everyone in it here. There's no way they'd punish anyone by sending them away."

"Good point," Toad replied in a grim tone. "We can look forward to them coming up with an even worse punishment."

"Only if they catch us." X hesitated as he spotted something moving at the other end of the corridor. "Which I don't intend to happen. Now quiet."

Toad tried looking into the hallway around X's frame, but found his view blocked. Thinking fast, he leaped up onto the wall overhead, then crawled to the edge of the overhanging frame and peered upside-down over it.

"I know them!" Toad hissed excitedly.

X quickly shushed him. "Gomen," he apologized, continuing in a very soft whisper. "That's Sunfire. He's the one that tried to attack you in the cafeteria. One of the girls with him is called Yurei. I'm not sure about the other one, but I think her name is..."

"...Tarot," X finished. "I know."

Both watched as the trio at the other end of the hall crept forward, keeping their heads low in a very obvious fashion like something out of a cliché mystery flick.

"What are they doing?" Toad wondered, remembering to keep his voice down as low as possible.

X didn't answer, but Toad saw him watching the scene closely and followed suit. The three students lurked near the headmaster's office for a moment, as though slowly coming to a decision. The girl called Yurei stepped forward first, and as she did, Toad saw her go from solid to a translucent form. A soft light enveloped her, like fog when illuminated by street lights.

Looking hard, Toad could make out the other side of the hall through her. Yurei, meanwhile, floated up off the ground slightly, gliding her body toward the headmaster's door.

"She's beautiful," Toad whispered a little too loudly.

Yurei drifted until she was inches from the door. One hand was stretched out in front of her slightly. As the fingertips brushed the door's edge, Yurei flinched slightly and floated back away. Landing in a solid form in front of the others, she turned around and nodded sadly at them.

Sunfire scowled. "We can't have come all this way for nothing," he said bitterly. "There's got to be a way inside there."

"What about the floor?" Tarot suggested. "Could you phase through that way?"

Mindful of the skirt she was wearing, Yurei crouched down and ran her fingers over the surface of the rug.

"I can sense it here, too," she said, before looking behind her at the wall. "But not that far back, I think."

"Try it," insisted Sunfire. "What have we got to lose?"

Yurei gave Sunfire a glare like the answer should have been obvious, but complied. Her body took the same translucent state as before and drifted through the wall. Yurei vanished from sight as though she were a ghost, which brought a soft gasp out of Toad.

X shot him an admonishing glare. A moment later, Yurei was floating back up through the floor next to the wall.

"Nothing," she declared. "The field covers the reception area, the headmaster's whole office, plus the room right next to it. There's no way I can phase through."

"They must have had a phaser at the Academy before," Sunfire concluded in a less-than-pleased tone.

"You think?" Tarot shot Sunfire a look as she spoke. "This is crazy. Why else would they be this prepared?"

"I don't see you doing anything to help," Sunfire bit at her.

"Urusai," Yurei hissed. "Do you want us to get caught?"

"It's not my fault," Sunfire insisted. "She's supposed to be a thief or something."

"Pickpocket," Tarot corrected. "And I'm good, but not that good."

Tarot gestured toward the palm reader next to the locked door for emphasis. "If we didn't have to go back to our dorm rooms, it would be different," she said, the palm reader still locked within her gaze. "I'd rather not have the Pawnsmen storm into my dorm again."

"And blowing it up is something Sunfire could do easily," Yurei added for her benefit. "You're right, though. If we break in the easy way, they could trace it back to us. The whole point was to get inside without anyone noticing."

Sunfire was still scowling from Yurei's dismissive comment. "What if we cut off headmaster's hand?" he suggested. "That would get us inside."

Yurei rolled her eyes. "I think headmaster will notice something like that," she responded. "No, what we need is either someone with computer expertise, or a copy of headmaster's palm print to use."

"So who do we ask?" Sunfire wondered, looking back and forth between the two. "And how are we supposed to do this without them knowing what we're up to?"

"Good questions," said Tarot.

"Wish I had an answer for them," Yurei added. "I guess we'll just have to figure that out as we go. For now, let's get back to our rooms before someone notices."

"Let's take a shortcut," Tarot advised, making it sound like a question. "I don't want to see any more Pawnsmen tonight."

"Hai," Yurei said easily, taking Tarot and Sunfire by the arm.

X watched as all three took on the same intangible form and glided straight through the wall, sinking as they went into the floor at the same time.

"Wow," Toad said, hopping back down off the wall. "I had no idea she could phase more than herself. That's pretty cool."

"Why do they want inside headmaster's office?" X asked.

Toad shrugged. "Gomen," he replied. "I was as surprised to see them as you were. Yurei is a model student, and Sunfire has his own gang that he runs with. I can't believe any of them would try something like this together."

Toad thought the situation over for a moment more. "Sunfire would do it," he admitted, while X was staring down the hall. "If he were looking to pull some sort of prank on the headmaster. Everybody knows Sunfire secretly wants to join the Hellions. Tarot likes to call attention to herself sometimes, but she's more of a solo act, if you know what I mean."

"Let's go," said X, cutting Toad off.

Toad started to move toward the hall, but froze in his tracks. X was headed back the way they had come.

"Aren't we going into headmaster's office?" he asked, leaping after his friend.

"Not tonight," X said. "You heard what the ghost girl said. It has some sort of field keeping her out. That means there's more security covering that place than any other room in this building."

Toad considered this as they moved back toward the stairwell. X stopped to check and make sure the coast was clear while he stood nearby, going over everything he knew.

"Something about this isn't adding up," he concluding, following after X down the stairs. "Why would headmaster's office need that much security?"

"It wouldn't," said X, still watching for Pawnsmen. "Unless this wasn't an ordinary school."

Toad couldn't resist laughing. "I think we'd established that already," he said, between chuckles. "This is a place full of people who fly and throw fireballs out of their hands."

"Besides that, I meant," X retorted. "Something much bigger is going on, and I think the answers are inside Shinobu Shaw's office."

"Oh, hai," Toad replied obediently. "So how do we get in there?"

X hesitated at the question. "I don't know," he confessed, looking displeased with himself. "I think this might be trickier than I expected."

X stayed silent for the rest of the trip back to their dorm. Once they were safely inside, Toad closed the door and waited while X swept the room.

"We're clear?" he asked.

X rose up and nodded. "Yosh," said Toad. "Then what do we do?"

"I think," X said, and he looked even less happy now, "we may need some help."

{} {} {} {} {}

The sun was up a couple of hours later. Both Toad and X stayed in bed for as long as possible, which turned out to be not very long.

"What the hell are people doing awake at this hour?" X snarled from beneath the covers.

Toad was already dressed and making his bed up. "Students are allowed to sleep late here," Toad explained, pressing away the creases in his bed cover. "It's already eight o'clock. You'd better get up so we don't draw attention to ourselves."

X grumbled as he pushed himself up off the mattress, letting the covers fall away in the process. "Eight in the morning isn't sleep late," he moaned. "What is with this school and its messed-up rules for every single damn thing?"

Toad laughed, but looked away fast when X crawled out of bed naked. "You must have not been in school for a while," he mused, staring at a wall while X slowly dressed himself. "What were you doing before the MRD found you?"

X snorted. "Got into a bar fight," he muttered quietly, struggling into the uniform that had been delivered for him yesterday. "I still can't believe I've gotta wear this blasted monkey suit."

Toad frowned at the comment. "You were in a barfight?" he asked instead. "How come?"

"Guy wouldn't shut his mouth," X said, sounding a little more awake now as he slid the overshirt on. "A few others disagreed with me, too. It happens."

Toad breathed a sigh of relief when he chanced a peek and saw X was fully dressed. "Where did you go to school before?"

X let out a long sigh. "I don't remember."

Toad waited, sensing his friends unease with the conversation, but couldn't abate his curiosity. "Gomen," he apologized. "But you say that a lot."

X glared toward him. "Hai," X replied, agreeing. "It's because I really don't remember much."

X saw the apprehensive look on Toad's face. "It's not anything you did," he explained. "I just don't talk about it much. For the most part, there hasn't been anyone around for a while to ask."

"Sou," said Toad sympathetically. "Do you mind if I ask how it happened? I mean, you probably don't remember how it happened, but..."

"I know what you mean," X interjected. "My memories go back to about three years ago. I woke up in the woods one night up north. It was snowing, and I had no clue how I got there. I couldn't remember who I was or what I was doing there. Since then, I've pretty much kept to myself."

"You didn't have an ID pad on you?" Toad pressed, unable to help himself. "Or maybe those old-fashioned ID cards they used to print out?"

"Nothing," X said flatly. "None of the people I spoke to acted like they remembered me either. Nothing about their scents was familiar. I kept hoping I'd run into someone, or find some clue that was point me in the right direction, but nothing happened. No one came looking for me or reported me missing so I kept moving."

Toad didn't know what to say. "What about your powers?" he asked after a moment, since X didn't seem put out by his questions.

"What about them?"

Toad pointed at X's hands. "You've got claws," he said. "But they're kind of like lasers or something. I've never heard of a mutation like that before."

X held up his hands and summoned his psychic claws. "These," he asked, positioning himself to where Toad could get a slightly better look. "I just concentrate and they're there."

"Sou," Toad repeated. "And your eye?"

That made X give pause. "I can't explain that one," he admitted. "It was there when I woke up."

"Maybe someone made it," Toad offered, stepping closer. "It doesn't look like the standard models they use in hospitals. Those aren't supposed to be conspicuous."

"I know," X said begrudgingly.

"That one almost looks like an older model." Toad's face was inches from X's now. "The kind they made back when augmentation surgery was still in its early stages."

X held himself perfectly still, annoyed, but willing to let Toad get as close as he needed to. "You know a lot about that sort of stuff," he said pointedly, which made Toad jerk back slightly in surprise.

"Ah, hai," he said really fast. "My parents. After I told them I was a mutant, they started taking me to augmentation specialists, thinking there might be a cure there."

X looked Toad up and down. "They hadn't noticed yet?"

A knock at the door prevented Toad from answering. X spotted the head of a luminescent figure float through the sliding panel instead of opening it. When the rest of her body had passed through, she solidified into the form of Yurei.

"You two had been hurry," she ordered in a crisp tone. "Fuyutsuki-sensei is on her way down to perform dormitory checks."

"We were just leaving," Toad informed her. "I was going to show X the Danger Room course today. Headmaster is still having me show him around."

Yurei looked from Toad to X curiously. "X?" she asked. "Is that supposed to be his codename or something?"

"Got a problem with it?" X asked before Toad could respond.

Yurei seemed taken aback slightly. "Sumimasen," she replied with a slight quiver, before reverting back to the same crisp tone as before. "Weren't you supposed to see the headmaster the other day?"

"It can wait," X said casually. "What's the Danger Room supposed to be?"

Yurei scowled and cut Toad off as he was about to answer. "Do you always ignore authority figures like that?" she pressed.

"Do you always barge into people's rooms without knocking?" X shot back at her sharply. "Or ignore someone's question, and interrupt when someone else tries to answer?"

Yurei blanched, and started to back away as X approached her. All too soon, she was up against the wall. X didn't move any closer, however, knowing she could simply phase through it.

"Or," he added knowingly, "try to break into the headmaster's office in the early hours of the morning?"

Yurei's eyes doubled in size. "Not much for following authority either, are you?" X concluded. "Come on, Toad. I want to see this Danger Room you mentioned."

Toad hesitated, then moved across the room toward the door. Yurei hadn't moved the whole time, and stood blocking the door while staring from one to the other suspiciously.

"Are you going to move?" X asked menacingly. "Or are we going to have to go through you?"

Yurei scowled, but then realized what X meant, and backed off to the side. Toad could feel her eyes following them as they left the room and wandered off down the hall toward the outer door that led to the Danger Room building.

"Why did you tell her that?" Toad hissed once they were far enough away. "Now she knows we were there. She could rat us out."

"She won't," X said confidently. "None of them saw us, and they can't report it to anyone without giving themselves away."

Toad thought about that as they passed a cluster of students, one of whom shot a disdainful look at him and X before moving on. "Hai," Toad said, ignoring the others. "Gomen."

"Stop apologizing," X told him as they exited the door out into the wooded area behind the school. "It's annoying."

Toad opened his mouth to apologize again, catching himself just in time. "Hai," he said instead as they strode along together down the path through the trees toward a dome off in the distance.

The outside area behind the Xavier Academy was roughly the size of a city block. Trees and shrubbery choked the region, like someone had tried cramming as much vegetation as possible into the space. It stood out among the glass, plastic, metal, and concrete of Old Shibuya.

Behind them, the Academy building stood looming over everything like some great monolith. The building itself was crooked, forming a Y-shape to fit the corner of the intersecting streets it stood in front of.

There were several paths to take, but the most obvious one led to a geodesic dome near one of the chain link walls. As Toad and X approached it, the dome seemed to grow bigger.

"This is the Danger Room?" X asked once they had reached the front doors.

"Hai," Toad said. "The school uses it as a training area. It's like a weird mix between a survival course and a really intense gym. Students are required to train here three times a week, at least. Some of the classes are held inside here, too."

X didn't look especially impressed by the sight of it, but headed inside regardless. Since it was the weekend, the rest of the student body was making the most out of their time by putting the facility to good use. The place was crowded despite it being relatively early in the morning.

"It's usually less crowded at noon on Saturdays," Toad said as they wandered through the entrance area toward the back. "The afternoons are when things really pick up, though."

X consented to let Toad lead him around through the place, half-listening as Toad explained some of the various equipment and what it was used for. Some parts of the Danger Room facility looked no different than what one might find in a very exclusive gym. There was a pool, weight and exercise area, aerobics class, and sparring area.

Other parts, though, were unique to the school. There were several regions that resembled something out of an old game show, with obstacle courses and hidden traps. Students were seen racing from one end to another, using their mutant abilities to try and side-step the slew of pitfalls. Some students watched from a safe distance, amusing themselves by placing bets on who would make it through with the most points.

Judging by a holo-board glowing off in the distance, each obstacle course had some sort of scoring system to it.

"Want to try some of it?" Toad inquired.

"Later, maybe," X said, noticing a familiar face racing through a gymnast track. "Recognize the one over there?"

Toad spotted Tarot back flipping her way across a balance beam as heavy, padded darts were fired at her.

"She comes here a lot," Toad verified, watching Tarot move effortlessly. "Tarot's got good reflexes for someone whose powers don't involve that sort of thing."

"It's called hard work," X informed dryly. "She looks pretty good."

Toad blushed. "Hai," he muttered, glancing away.

X didn't turn away, keeping his eyes fixed on Tarot as she moved from the balance beam to a set of tiny platforms. Foam discs zipped through the air past her as she jumped from one platform to the next. Following this was a long stretch of transparent corridor containing sandbags that swung back and forth like pendulums. It took Tarot almost no time at all to traverse it. Once she emerged on the other side, X saw her look up and smile at him.

"I didn't know I had an audience," she said flirtatiously. "Did you boys like what you saw?"

X didn't reply as Tarot grabbed herself a towel and marched over to them. Toad looked a little unnerved by her all of a sudden, and almost backed away.

"Ne," she said, looking him up and down. "You're Toad, right?"

"Hai," Toad chirped out quickly.

"Nice to meet you," Tarot said. "Who's your friend?"

"Call me X," X said gruffly. "It's what most people do when they aren't cussing the day I was born."

"Don't I know that feeling," she said, laughing. "Welcome to the Xavier Academy, also know by some as mutant high. How are you liking the place so far?"

X shrugged while Toad continued to fidget. "It's a nice place," answered X causally, "as far as prisons go, anyway."

Tarot laughed. "You and I think alike," she said, grinning broadly now. "Most of the new blood that are smart enough to figure that out think they'll be out of here quick, fast, and in a hurry. In the end, they wind up wandering the hallways until graduation."

"That depends," X replied. "What's in the headmaster's office that's so important that you and your friends need to break into it?"

Toad expected Tarot to slap X across the face. He even cringed in anticipation of it happening. Tarot, however, looked shocked by the statement for only a second before checking to make sure no one close by had overheard anything.

None of the students appeared any different than the way they'd been before. Both she and Toad sighed with relief.

"This isn't a conversation to have out in public," Tarot warned, keeping her voice playful. "Care to meet me later for some alone time? Your friend can join in, if he wants."

X grinned back at her before turning toward Toad. "What do you say?" he asked, teasingly. "Do you feel up for a threesome with the lady?"

Toad's face was a deep crimson. "Ha... ai. Hai," he stammered helplessly. "I mean, did you mean that... were we just going to..."

"He's in," X answered, cutting Toad off.

"Wonderful," Tarot said. "Why don't we have lunch over it? It'll give me time to let some other friends of mine know."

"Bring them along," X told her as she walked off. "I'm sure I'll have loads to talk about with one of them."

Toad held his tongue until Tarot was out of sight, and he was sure no one else would overhead them.

"What was that about?" he wondered, clearly confused.

"Just having a little bit of fun," X said, and indeed it looked as though he were enjoying himself immensely at the moment.

Toad frowned, but concluded that whatever his friend was planning would hopefully make sense sooner or later. He and X spent the remainder of the morning trying out a few of the obstacle courses. X did very well for himself, naturally, but Toad surprised everyone by scoring very high. The two incurred several looks from the other students when they finally left the dome near noon.

"That was fun," Toad said cheerfully. "I can't remember the last time I had a Danger Room session that went so well."

"You don't use it that often?" X asked, wiping sweat off his forehead. "I thought you said the students here have to go there three times a week."

"They do," said Toad, and he sounded very unsettled all of a sudden. "The thing is, whenever I go there, Sunfire or some of his friends are usually there too, and... they don't like me very much."

X thought this over as they worked their way up the path back toward the academy's main building.

"Why do you let Sunfire push you around?" he asked Toad after several minutes of silence. "If it were me, I would want to put the guy down in his place where he belonged."

Toad didn't answer. "Has he threatened you?" X pressed, unwilling to let it go. "Has the guy got something on you? Is that it?"

"Not exactly," Toad replied, not meeting X's gaze. "Can we please drop it? This isn't something I want to talk about right now."

"Sure thing," said X as the doors to the building opened before them. "Just so you know, though, if you don't handle your problems, they only get bigger."

"I know," Toad answered stiffly. "Now can we please drop it?"

The last part was said with an uncharacteristically fierce undertone, which surprised X enough to do as the kid requested. A few minutes later, they had wandered their way back toward the cafeteria for lunch. The place was packed, as usual, but Toad and X were able to get their trays and a table for themselves after waiting for half an hour.

"Do you see them?" Toad asked, looking around for any sign of Yurei or Tarot.

"They'll find us," X insisted. "Just enjoy your meal for right now and pretend like nothing is going on."

Like clockwork, one of the three appeared behind Toad a moment later. X smelled Sunfire before he got close to Toad.

"Move," Sunfire barked, causing Toad to jerk slightly. "I've got business to discuss with the other one."

"I think you'll find the seat's already taken," X told him, looking up from his plate. "Care to try for somewhere else?"

There were several vacant seats surrounding X and Toad on both sides. "Like one next to me, for example," X added, flashing his claws momentarily so Sunfire could see them.

X smelled two more approach from behind him. "Sit down, Sunfire," the one called Yurei ordered stiffly. "We didn't come here to start a fight with anyone."

"You didn't," Sunfire corrected. "That doesn't mean I won't."

"Any time," X threw out.

"Why don't you boys behave?" Tarot suggested as she pulled the seat out on X's left. "The rest of us came here to have a nice quiet lunch, not wrestle like wild animals with each other."

"Arigato, Tarot," Yurei said as she sat down on X's right.

Sunfire stared over Toad's head at X like Toad wasn't there. After a moment, the red-haired mutant took a seat on Toad's left across from Yurei.

"You and I have unfinished business," Sunfire told X before snatching a sushi roll off his plate. "Don't think it's over just because the headmaster jumped in between us the other day."

"Is this guy always working with a short fuse?" X asked.

"He can be much worse," a very tired-sounding Yurei replied. "If nobody minds, I'd like to go ahead and say what's on all our minds right now."

Toad watched as Yurei turned directly toward X. "How much do you know?" she asked plainly. "And what are you planning to do about it?"

X polished off his shrimp and started on his own sushi roll. "What I know is that the three of you were trying to break into the headmaster's office early this morning," he said, speaking around his food. "I don't plan to do anything about it unless it'll cause problems for us."

"Us?" Sunfire looked around. "Who's us?"

X glared at Sunfire, then adjusted his gaze to stare at Toad.

"Him?" Sunfire asked disbelievingly. "What's he got to do with any of this?"

Toad lowered his head, but X wouldn't let it die. "He's with me," he hissed down angrily. "If you've got a problem with that, get lost while we finish talking with the ladies."

Sunfire's face practically shook with rage. "Enough already," Yurei insisted. "X, how did you know we were anywhere near the headmaster's office last night?"

"Toad and I know because we were there, too," X answered calmly. "And we saw all three of you. You were trying to move through the walls but couldn't because of some sort of security field covering the whole room."

Sunfire laughed. "That takes care of that," he declared joyfully. "This moron just gave himself away. He can't tell on us without getting himself in trouble."

The two girls looked a little relieved by this, but X was unfazed. "I never said I planned to squeal on any of you," he stated. "I just wanted to know why you were up there trying to break in."

"Why were you up there?" Tarot countered.

X looked her dead in the face. "You tell me yours, and we'll tell you ours."

Tarot looked at Toad for a moment before considering X again. "Well," Yurei asked when her friend said nothing. "Is he lying?"

"Hard to say," Tarot said thoughtfully, studying X's face. "His aura is very calm right now, but there's a lot there I can't get a good sense of. I'd have to go deeper to find out, and you know what that means."

Yurei didn't look happy. "Do it," she said after a pause. "Just be quick so no one notices."

"Notices what?" X wondered, leaning back away slightly. "If you've got some funny ideas about digging around in my head, think again."

"Don't worry," Tarot assured him, smiling slyly as she slid one of the thick gloves off her fingers. "This won't hurt a bit."

X started to move, but Tarot placed her bare hand on the back of his neck instead of X's fingers like she'd feinted doing. X cursed himself for failing to notice such a basic trick. A second passed, and he felt no different than before. It didn't feel exactly like anyone was rooting around inside his head, either. Tarot, on the other hand, looked like she'd just gotten stabbed straight through the gut.

"Tarot," Yurei called out, alarmed. "Are you alright?"

Tarot seemed to snap out of it, and jerked her hand off X's bare flesh. Her face was pale with shock and it looked as though her pupils were dilated slightly.

"Daijoubu," she managed to wheeze out. "I'll be okay."

"What did you see?" Sunfire pressed.

"Would someone tell me what the hell is going on?" X demanded angrily. "What was that all about?"

"Tarot has psychometry as part of her mutation," Yurei explained, moving out of her seat to help her friend. "She can read an object or person's past and future. The ability is something she can't control, though, and it happens with just the barest touch of skin to skin."

"That's why she wears the gloves," Sunfire said, and it surprised both X and Toad to see him looking concerned now.

X watched closely as Tarot recovered. "What did you see?" he asked when she raised up in her seat again.

"Nothing specific," she gasped. "But, man! Are you ever a piece of work. What the heck happened to you?"

X scowled and pushed his tray away. "I don't know," he said. "I can't remember anything before a few years ago."

Tarot gave X a sympathetic look, which only seemed to annoy him. "I saw a lot of..." Tarot paused as she struggled to explain. "It felt like a lot of things are beginning to rotate around you. You're an important fellow to this place."

Toad grinned, but X just snorted. "I'd just as soon cut and run," he said. "That's what we were doing in Shaw's office, by the way. Toad wants out, and I wanted to find out why these clowns were so interested in bringing me here."

"And you thought the headmaster's office might help you escape?" Yurei offered. "Or that it would have the information you wanted?"

"Hai," X said as he drew the tray of food back over to him.

"Makes sense, I guess," Sunfire acknowledged. "The headmaster's room is the most secure place in the whole school. The Danger Room doesn't have half the security that floor does."

"No kidding," Tarot agreed.

Yurei sat back down next to X, satisfied that Tarot would be okay for now. "How were you able to get up to the top floor?" she asked X. "It took us weeks of planning to work that much out."

"It was easy," Toad spoke up.

Everyone but X looked at Toad like they were just noticing him. "Gomen," he apologized. "It's just..."

"...that it was easy for the two of us," X chimed in, covering for him. "I don't know why you three had so much trouble, but we managed it just fine. The hardest part turned out to be waiting for everyone to go to sleep."

"Usotsuki," Sunfire declared. "The halls are patrolled by Pawnsmen all the time. And there are laser sensors blocking whole areas of the school."

"I can walk on walls and ceilings," Toad said. "And X handled the Pawnsmen without any problem whatsoever."

All three were surprised, but no one looked more floored than Sunfire. "Toad and I doubled back after we saw you three," X went on, speaking very casually now. "I figured it was just as well that we wait for a different night to try since you three were probably going to screw things up."

Sunfire looked ready to blast X's head, but Yurei shot him a glare that told him to cool it. "Can you help us get inside?" she asked carefully, keeping her voice down now. "We could use your help."

"Both of you," Tarot added for Toad's benefit. "I had no idea you could walk on ceilings. No wonder the lasers didn't give you any problems."

"We'll pass," X replied. "You three would just slow us down."

Yurei looked less than surprised by his statement, whereas Sunfire began scowling again. "I guess that's it then," she said. It sounded as though she had been expecting X to answer the way he did.

Tarot rose with Yurei, looking sadly down at X. Sunfire stayed seated for a moment more, fire curling around the fingers of his clenched fist. Abruptly, he rose up, the chair clattering as he snatched his tray up and stormed off.

"Are you sure about this?" Toad asked, watching the three leave the cafeteria. "They were able to get up to the top floor on their own."

"So were we," X pointed out. "And it didn't take us weeks to do it."

Toad couldn't think of a valid argument against that, so he let the subject drop. "What are we going to do now?" he asked, standing when X did.

"Nothing," X replied. "For right now, at least."

"Ah."

Toad deposited both their trays in the slot, then followed X out the cafeteria into the academy hallways.

"Who can we ask for help, then?" he wondered as a cluster of students passed them. "You said that we'd need help getting into the headmaster's office."

"We will," X said. "Most likely, anyway. Once I figure that part out, I'll be sure to let you know."

{} {} {} {} {}

Toad was sleeping.

The dorm room was quiet. A soft patch of light fell across the room from the windows, barely illuminating the gloom. X listened out of boredom for sounds coming from the rest of the hall and beyond. It was late, but he couldn't sleep. X's mind had been racing for a while now, unwilling to calm down enough to allow him the chance to drift off.

It bothered him more than he cared to admit. What he was about to do would be best for the kid, but that didn't make X feel better about it.

Once he was sure Toad was well and truly out for the night, X slipped out from underneath the covers and made his way to the door. Peeking out into the hall, he checked to ensure the coast was clear, then worked his way through the school to the top floor.

This time, X was able to avoid the Pawnsmen. Toward the end of the day, a rumor had begun circulating over several Pawnsmen that had been found injured the night before. Toad had been anxious the whole time, worrying that he and X would be found out. X had finally gotten him to calm down by using a pressure point. Of course, the pressure point had also knocked the kid out.

"It really is for the best," X insisted to himself. "No way the kid could survive taking the kind of road I walk."

Saying it out loud didn't convince X any more than thinking it had. Nevertheless, he refused to turn back. A little bit later, and he was back outside the same corridor that he and Toad had watched Yurei and the others from. The headmaster's office appeared to be vacant. The little pad that helped seal it off was activated, giving off a bright red light as something flashed on and off repeatedly.

X waited a moment, then moved down the hall. There was no trace of ozone, the stink given off the laser sensors in the lower floors. Apparently, whoever had designed the school's security thought the top floor should be an exception.

X was standing in front of the headmaster's office now, holding a piece of paper in one hand. This was the third time he'd stood outside the door, waiting. On Friday, the headmaster had called X to his office for the meeting X had skipped out on. X had listened with his tongue tucked between his two rows of back teeth while the man had rambled on about the Academy and its purpose. One good thing had come out of the whole mess, though.

X had gotten hold of the headmaster's palm print.

He seriously doubted the man knew. It had happened so fast, and wasn't anything X had planned. The headmaster had gotten some kind of dust on his hand, a powder left by a student playing a practical joke, Shaw had said. At one point, while digging for something to wipe it off with, Shaw had pressed his palm down on the surface of his own desk briefly.

X's left eye had zoomed in and saved the image of the print that was left behind before it could fade away. Afterward, he'd meticulously sketched the same print out on a clear piece of drawing paper. Toad had gone to dinner while X stayed behind to finish the sketch with a promise to bring something back for him. X hadn't mentioned his little ace in the hole, not that he ever would have. Toad was a nice kid, but not someone X wanted to bring with him back to the streets.

That, and he could be annoying.

"Yeah, right," X chided softly to himself. "You're only saying that because you've gone soft. You actually like the little guy."

The whole scheme relied on the drawing being an exact copy down to the most minute detail. X had used this trick once before, but there was always a chance of error. Hoping for good luck, he held the clear paper over his own palm, then pressed them both into the palm reader.

The device hesitated, then flashed green. A click was heard echoing down the hall before the door slid open sideways on its own.

X was inside with the door closed behind him in seconds.

"Now let's see what this creep has been hiding that's important enough to try and keep everyone out," he said.

X leaped soundlessly over the counter, careful to keep his face down and concealed in case there were any hidden cameras nearby. The headmaster's office door was off to the right, and locked. Another palm reader barred the way, but the same sketch worked on it too. Once inside, X folded the clear page up and looked around.

The office looked just as he remember, like something belonging to a business tycoon instead of a school principle. The space separating the door from the desk felt larger than it actually was. Off to the side was a holographic console. X remembered seeing it when he'd been in the office last, and marched over to it purposefully.

The console lit up as X came near it.

"User-friendly," he noted, sitting down. "Great. Now I just have to figure out how to work this blasted thing."

Twenty minutes later saw X getting nowhere fast. "Terrific," he grumbled. "Guess this means I'm getting old and soft all at the same time."

X was just starting to consider giving up when something flashed on the screen. A second window had opened without him doing anything. This made him even more curious, and with a little bit of digging, he found the answer.

"Looks like I'm not the only one snooping around where they don't belong," he said slyly. "Let's see who else is here."

X's fingers had just touched the holopad when his ears picked up a noise. Footsteps were coming down the hall. Listening carefully, X stood up after putting the console back into sleep mode, then headed out the door. He'd barely made it over the receptionist's counter when the palm scanner outside beeped. Ducking back behind the counter, X hid in the shadows there, watching as a woman strode in.

It was Fuyutsuki-sensei, and looking closely at her now, X recognized her as the woman from his vision when he'd collapsed.

She was the one who attacked him telepathically in the street before the Pawnsmen could dog pile on top of him.

Fuyutsuki-sensei looked around the room as she moved toward the door to the headmaster's private office. The palm reader scanned her without incident, and a moment later, she was gone. X considered following after her, but decided against it. If the lady was a telepath, she might sense his presence. X knew his ability to create psychic claws somehow gave him a level of protection against telepaths. He'd had problems with one before for a brief period, and felt grateful that it had kept him from being discovered. X wasn't quite ready to show his hand yet, especially with a teacher snooping around where it didn't look like she was supposed to either.

When X returned to Toad's dormitory, the kid was still sleeping soundly. Shutting the door behind him, X slipped back under the covers, determined to try and sleep some before daybreak came. Just as he was starting to get comfortable, however, the Cerebro console on the desk next to his bed chimed loudly.

Toad snorted in reply.

"Can't it wait until morning?" he asked aloud, which earned him another chime from the holographic computer monitor.

"Guess that answers my question."

In a moment, X was sitting at the desk. An icon had appeared in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. The moment he touched it, it opened a window for an old-fashioned chat message program.

_What were you doing inside the headmaster's office earlier?_

X considered the message a moment before answering.

_What's it to you?_

The answer to his question came very fast.

_If you were snooping around in the headmaster's office, then your life is in great danger._

X rolled his organic eye.

_That's a given. Is this Fuyutsuki-sensei, because she and I have unfinished matters to discuss with one another._

The next message took a moment to arrive.

_It is not Fuyutsuki-sensei. Who is this?_

_You tell me your name, and I'll tell you mine._

X hated the idea of carrying on a conversation with someone he couldn't smell. This time was no exception.

_I was once a part of the Xavier Academy. If you are a student at the school, then you must leave immediately. Your life is in danger._

This got X's attention.

_I had figured that out already. And I'm working on getting out of here, but these bastards know something about my past. I want to find out what it is they know before I break free of this place._

X's foot tapped impatiently against the floor as he waited for the stranger to answer again. It was a bad idea for him to be talking with someone he had never met before, especially considering the current situation. Yet X found the fact that the one on the other end of the conversation was going to such great lengths to speak with him intriguing.

_Would you be willing to tell me your name?_

Slowly, he typed his message out.

_Just call me X. That's good enough for now._

The message window stayed silent for a moment.

_Oh. You're the new student that was brought into the academy a few nights ago. They have a very big file on you._

Now X knew he was getting somewhere.

_You were the one poking around inside the computer in Shaw's office._

_"Hai. I was looking for information on an organization when I caught you inside Cerebro's mainframe. Your file is heavily encrypted with several security locks in place. I didn't bother trying to hack through it because that wasn't what I'd initially come for._

Toad made a sound in his sleep, startling X. It was quiet throughout the whole dormitory area now, which caused goosebumps to break out down X's arms.

_Perhaps we can help each other?_

X saw the newest message and typed out his response.

_What makes you think so?_

Whoever was on the other end typed very fast now.

_I can help you find out what the Shonetsu Jigoku-Dan knows about you. With someone on the office Cerebro console helping me, breaking in would be much easier._

_...Burning Hellfire Brigade?_

X typed this message out before continuing.

_Who are they?_

The silence was beginning to really bother him now.

_A powerful group that has been around since the Meiji Restoration period. They want to build a new society where mutants are superior to humans._

X chuckled.

_Sounds good to me._

When the stranger typed back again, they almost sounded contrite with him.

_And in the process, they'll use the students as slaves and soldiers. Your classmates will become pawns in a game where no one wins._

X thought over what was just said a moment before answering back.

_You don't have to convince me of anything. I'll be happy to kiss this place goodbye._

The next line made X flinch. It was very long.

_Then help me, X. The students at the Xavier Academy are in danger from what Shaw and the rest of the Shonetsu Jigoku-Dan are plotting. If something were to happen to the students, I would never be able to forgive myself. You are the only person so far inside the school that I've told any of this to. I'm afraid that I have just made another big mistake by trusting you, but right now, you are the only person who can help. You are the only one I know who got into Shinobu Shaw's office without being discovered._

X's fingertips sat poised above the holographic pad for a moment.

_Why is this so important to you?_

That seemed even more important than knowing who he was dealing with. The stranger on the other end took a long time to answer. When they did finally, though, it was worth the wait.

_Because my name is Charlene Xavier, and I founded the Xavier Academy. Shinobu Shaw took control of it from me and used it to recruit unregistered mutants so __the Shonetsu Jigoku-Dan could build an army for themselves. I've been trying to stop them, but without support or allies on the inside, it hasn't been easy._

X thought her words over as the sky outside the window lightened.

_Let's say you are who you say you are. Assuming I agreed to help, and I'm not saying that I would, what's in it for me?_

Charlene Xavier was not one to waste time with flowery prose.

_Help me and any information I can gather up on you is yours. I will use all my resources to help you find whatever it is you're looking for inside Shaw's data banks._

Hours later, when Toad finally woke, X was still sitting at the desk. "Ohaiyo," Toad muttered sleepily. "What's going on?"

X gave Toad a sleepy grin. "I think I may have found somebody who can help us get out of this place," he said.

That woke Toad up fast. "Who?" he wondered.

X grinned, loving the eagerness on the kid's face now. "Just the lady that founded this whole school," he said. "Seems she doesn't like Shaw very much, and needs our help to make sure he takes a very hard fall."

It took a moment for Toad to process all of that. "Sugoi," he said. "That's amazing. You actually spoke to the school's founder?"

X nodded.

"Cool," Toad continued. "Why does she hate Shaw so much?"

"No idea," X replied. "She and Shaw must have dated."


End file.
